Best Places for Cream Tea in Devon and Cornwall

What Counts as a Proper Cream Tea

A cream tea is a deceptively simple thing: a warm scone, a generous spoonful of clotted cream, and jam. Done badly, it is a dry cake with a sachet of butter and a thimble of supermarket jam. Done properly, it is one of the great small pleasures of the West Country, and the difference comes down to three things — the scone, the cream and the timing.

The scone should be baked that morning, ideally plain or with sultanas, and served just warm enough that the cream begins to soften on contact. Clotted cream must be genuine Cornish or Devonian clotted cream: thick, pale yellow, with a faint crust on top. If it has been whipped, it is not clotted cream. Jam should be strawberry or raspberry, and it should taste of fruit rather than sugar.

Then there is the argument nobody wins. In Devon, the tradition is to split the scone, spread cream first, then jam on top. In Cornwall, you spread jam first and dollop the cream on afterwards. Both are correct. Both are also, according to the other county, entirely wrong. Order whichever way you like, but do it with conviction.

Devon: Tearooms Worth the Detour

Devon does cream teas with a quiet confidence. The county's dairy herds give it excellent cream, and its tearooms tend to be small, family-run and slightly old-fashioned in the best way.

• Dartmoor edge tearooms — villages such as Widecombe-in-the-Moor and Lustleigh have cottages serving scones with views across the moor. Go mid-afternoon on a weekday if you want a table by the window.
• South Hams — the lanes around Dartmouth, Slapton and Kingsbridge hide garden tearooms where the scones come out of the oven in batches. Ask what time the next tray is due.
• North Devon coast — Clovelly and Instow both have small cafés where a cream tea arrives with a sea view and a proper pot of leaf tea, not a mug of hot water and a bag.
• Exeter and Topsham — good for a city-centre cream tea when you want a walk along the quay afterwards rather than a drive.

In Devon, expect to pay somewhere between £6 and £9 for a standard cream tea. A "Devon cream tea" on a menu usually means two scones, which is more than most people need before dinner.

Cornwall: Where the Cream Comes From

Cornwall has the edge on cream, simply because more of it is made there, and the best tearooms buy from dairies within a few miles. The county is also more crowded, so timing matters.

• West Cornwall — the lanes around Penzance, Mousehole and Zennor hold small tearooms that fill up fast in summer. Arrive before noon or after three.
• St Ives and St Agnes — plenty of choice, but quality varies. Look for a handwritten menu and a visible cake stand rather than a laminated board with photographs.
• Padstow and the north coast — excellent for a cream tea after a coastal path walk, particularly around Rock and Polzeath.
• Bodmin Moor and the Tamar Valley — quieter, cheaper and often better. Farm shops and converted barns here serve some of the finest scones in the county.

Cornish tearooms are more likely to offer a "Cornish cream tea" with jam first as standard. If you want it the Devon way, say so — nobody will refuse, though you may get a look.

Tearoom or Café? Choosing Well

The word "tearoom" carries no legal weight, so use your eyes. A good cream tea establishment will have scones visible, clotted cream in a proper dish rather than a plastic tub, and a tea selection beyond one anonymous blend. A café that also does cream teas is often perfectly good, but check the scones are made on site.

Things worth avoiding: pre-split scones sitting under cling film, squirty cream, jam in individual foil sachets, and anywhere that offers a "cream tea" with butter instead of clotted cream. None of these are crimes, but they are not what you came for.

Practical Tips for a Good Afternoon

A few small bits of knowledge make a real difference.

• Timing — cream teas are served roughly 2.30pm to 5pm. Outside those hours you may get a scone from the morning batch.
• Booking — anywhere with a reputation will take bookings in July and August. Ring ahead rather than queue for forty minutes.
• Tea — ask for loose leaf if it is offered. A pot for two usually gives three cups each, which is about right.
• Portions — a single scone with cream and jam is a substantial snack. Two is lunch. Plan the rest of the day accordingly.
• Takeaway — many tearooms sell scones and tubs of clotted cream to take home. Clotted cream keeps for a few days chilled, and freezes reasonably well.

Finally, a word on walking. The best cream teas in Devon and Cornwall are usually a short stroll from a car park, a beach or a footpath, which is convenient, because you will want to walk afterwards. Combine the two, take your time, and order a second pot of tea. That is the whole point of the exercise.